Fulcra
by feyarcher
Summary: After an accident, a young woman finds herself in an inexplicable situation. Alone in a forest and inhabiting the body of a mythological creature. That of a dragon.
1. Chapter 1

Author: Feyarcher

Title: Fulcra

Warnings: PG-13 for language.

Pairings: none for now (haven't decided who yet)

Summary: Fulcrum; pivot- the pint or support about which a lever turns. Prop-something that supports something else revolving about it or depending on it.

Disclaimer: I do not own the aforementioned literary works "the Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis and "the Lord of the Rings" by JRR Tolkien.

A joke, a simple comment that displayed her mothers idiosyncrasies, avalanched into accusation and her mother's need to control all things, including her daughter. Recognizing this immediately she decided to remove herself from her mothers presence. Which her mother hated all the more. Because her opinion would not be heard and acknowledged, she went out of control.

Slamming the door to her room and throwing herself on the bed she wondered why she allowed herself to be so derided. Then she remembered, it was self inflicted, she had little financial assistance and she needed a place to stay. She was almost finished college but still lived at home as the school was close. Also some part of her hoped her mother might change.

The sound of her mothers screeching voice was as maddening as the poisonous words were cutting. A fast and furious pounding to her door made her realize her mistake. She hadn't locked it. It slammed open and though she wasn't physically afraid of her mother as like in the past, she knew from numerous battles the next confrontation would be just a painful as real blows.

The next few moments she could later only recall vaguely. The outcome of which was heartrending to her because she had finally snapped, and the acquiescence she had displayed most of the time boiled away to a white hot furry, and a clear decision to leave. She felt light and burdened at the same time. As she crossed the threshold of the place she had just existed she wished things could have been different. She wished she had known real love be it family or in a relationship.

Walking to her car on that cool autumn night, she stopped out of range of the street light and looked at the stars encompassing the sky. A soft breeze pulled her from her study and with a tired gait she reached her car and threw her backpack in the back and sank into the drivers seat. Turning the ignition she took a shaky breath and drove away.

She hadn't done anything wrong. She was very collected considering, and was paying attention to the road. Out in the unknown Someone had felt her wish that night and decided a chance to know what she had always desired would be granted. A large white buck bounded along side her car then danced in front of it. She slammed the brakes, turned her wheel away had a flash of fast approaching trees before all went black.

She felt odd. Keeping her eyes closed she took stock of her body. Her body ached and tingled as if a fever had set in. A wave of fatigue overwhelmed her and she decided the pull of sleep wasn't so bad. But, a pause of breath and her eyes shot open. Jerking to a kneeling position she froze at the unbelievable sight. Before her lowered head lay two paws adorned with wickedly sharp talons.

"What have I become?", she thought in alarm. Slowly swiveling her head, on what she realized to be a long neck; she gazed upon the rest of her body. A sound of disbelief came form her as she took in the sight. She had wings! A tail too! The wings had the look of a bat's but were overlaid with cream and tan patterned feathers. The tail which was twitching madly, had a tuft of thick and long flowing hair. If she had been in her real form she knew she would have fainted. Instead she froze and her mind went blank.

The sound of a bird calling drew her out of her trance. Again she examined her body. Getting up and twisting her body this way and that. Then sitting on her haunches she lifted a paw and careful of her talons touched her brow and petted down to the tip of, what appeared to be; her muzzle. A thought she had refused to dwell on more than a second before, came again unbidden.

"I am some kind of Dragon!", she screeched in unconcealed horror.

She paused again. She heard her words clearly, but she also heard an accompanying melodious and fearful sound, almost like a piece an electric guitar would play. She didn't want to think about it. Studying the forest glen she was in she picked a direction and moved into the forest. She concentrated on her gait so she wouldn't fall over, and walked.

Though she didn't want to, she began to ask herself how this impossible situation came upon her. "Did I die? Is this a second life? Surely this in a dream?" she thought. But never before had her dreams offered such a continuous theme, good or bad. And she felt the logical thinking that comes with being alert and awake. She halted in mid stride.

"I am like Edward in "the Chronicles of Narnia," she said, and like the last time an undulation of musical tones accompanied her words. For the moment she disregarded it and trying desperately to remember the books, she recalled rings an a forest with portals to other dimensions. Resuming her walk down what she noticed was a mountain, she wondered if the literary works could be a dimension in of itself. Later she would find how wrong and right she was.

"I need to find someone to help me." was her thought, immediately followed by, "Who the hell is going to help a bloody dragon? Am I to be hunted and slayed if I attempt to talk to someone, or some...being.

"What if there isn't anyone else in this, place." she thought. She decided she knew on thing: she was totally out of her depth and should expect anything and nothing.

She looked around nervously, realizing being cautious would be a good idea. A lone crow gave mighty, "caw"s at her from atop a large oak some yards away, but when she turned her head up and fixed her gaze upon it, the bird shut up.

"My eyesight is..." she whispered and didn't finish as she got caught in studying the birds shinning feathers then its eyes. That of which spooked the bird completely and it jumped from its perch and flapped away furiously, with a panicked "Caw!" To be answered by much more sedate and inquiring calls down the valley.


	2. Chapter 2

Authors note: I would love some constructive criticism or at least a review. Thanks.

Disclaimer: The author of this story does not own Lord of the Rings or the respective estate within the Trilogy. The author is not making any money from this story and is meant for entertainment purposes only. The author only owns the girl and dragon! And she was written before some unmentioned dragon movie came out!

The Ways East and West

She had been walking for a few hours and she thought she had covered many miles in that time.

Stopping at a bluff on which the mountain she was climbing on, she looked back the way she came to the setting sun. The trees were starting to thin out in the higher elevation and she could see for what seemed to be hundreds of miles all over, which consisted of dozens of mountain peaks to the horizon.

"That must be west, if I go by the standard the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, like back home." she thought.

She sat on her haunches and scoffed that she was assuming such a position. The east she had yet to see and when she reached the peak she would be able to know what lay in that direction. Her cautious nature warned her of the coming darkness and that she should find a place to hole up for the night and proceed the following morning. She was afraid to be moving at night when creatures of horror movies liked to prowl. She laughed at that, seeing as she was a monster now. Finding a large indentation under the bluff she further excavated the soil and rocks with her paws. She was not happy until she could hide her whole body in the hole.

"I am not making a hole, I'm making a friggin' cave! How large am I?" The only way she could judge her size was to measure her self against the full grown pine trees. She guessed when she was walking she was "only" seven feet high but about twenty to twenty-five feet long. With that thought she knew that most birds wing spans where wider than they where long, so she made an educated guess her wingspan was about thirty feet wide. As her thoughts came to her wings she asked herself, "can I fly with these things? Should I though, what if someone that is dangerous sees me?" Though she was extremely curious she decided, for the time being it was not worth the risk until she knew more about this place.

When she finished smoothing out the fresh soil she had excavated, she tried to cover the area with some leaves to better obscure her activities. Though she could smell the sharpness of damp soil, it wasn't as noticeable as before. Curling up on herself she realized her wings made nice insulators and she would be quite warm at night. Listening to the sounds of birds and crickets she let herself fall asleep and hoped she would wake up in the real world.

She does wake up, but it is well into the night and she is still in her cave. She is confused in general and realizes it is because she is still a dragon and something woke her up. There it was again. Singing. She craned her neck out from her cave a little and tried to figure out where it was coming from. It was from the north and her eyes seemed to zoom in on the source. Though it was dark she could make out humanoid shapes that seemed to give off their own glow. "Okay, so their not humans but they are people! There are people here!" she whispered to herself, feeling both joy and trepidation.

They seemed to be traveling a path that she had not seen before and could barely make out now. They were walking and riding horse back. Everything about them was beautiful, their voices, their clothes, their horses, their graceful movements, and their features. Even the males! A feeling of desperation came over her and she almost came out of her cave to greet them. But her restraint won. Their were many of them and they were armed. Not just with swords but with bow and arrows. Also they were at least a mile away. She would have to crash through the forest to catch up to them. "That would make a good first impression,"she thought. She watched them travel down the valley and head in a more north western direction.

"At least they won't find my tracks." she thought almost sad that was the case. When they where long gone their image still burned in her mind and their song played in her head. "What are they?" she asked herself, but she had an annoying feeling she new the answer. "Why do they seem familiar?... Oh my God! OF COURSE! They are elves! Am I in Middle Earth?"

She had seen the movies with her friends and read the books before that. Though without communicating with anyone she couldn't be sure if this was arda or something else. Still, she just saw elves something _fictional_ so it was a good chance she could be in the _fictional_ realm of middle earth. In the body of a mythological creature no less. "Uggghh, I'm tired and I'm going back to sleep and I hope things will be better tomorrow" she thought. Burying her head under her wings she felt the only familiar sensation she had since waking up in this body. That of tears gathering in her eyes and running down her face.


	3. Chapter 3

Fulcra: March

Author: Feyarcher

Disclaimer: The author does not own the intellectual property of the Tolkien estate and is not making profit, the story is for entertainment purposes only.

AN: I never thought I would say this but, will someone please review? God, I am cringing here.

She awoke to a symphony of bird calls. "Damn, this place is just crawling with birds!" But she noticed that the birds songs seemed calmer than the birds back home, that had to compete with the sounds of human activity. Stiffly getting up she stretched and with a playful air tried to "tweet" at a nearby bird. Instead of a poorly produced mimicry what came out was complete rendition of what the bird just sang.

"Okay, that is the third time I have made noises I should not be able to make! Well I guess being in this body doesn't make it so far of a leap that my vocal cords can mimic things." she mumbled to herself. She thought of something and laughed. "Well, it would be appropriate," she thought wryly.

She opened her mouth, (better described as jaws) and hoping she was capable of the complexity, sang a song from the soundtrack of "Return of the King." She picked "Twilight and Shadow" and instead of a simplified version of it she could remember and mimic every single note and overlapping instrument and voice. When she was done the birds had become silent. "This is something that I can get to like" she admitted to herself. She had become a walking surround sound system. "I must have had changes to my brain as well," she thought with a little concern. A human unless a musical genius cannot hold and remember a songs entirety from a few listenings. At least no-one she knew and she certainly never had that ability before. It was like she suddenly had access to all of the auditory impressions she ever had. They didn't swirl around in her mind but she could sense them in the background ready to be called on. She scratched behind an ear while she thought on that.

Ears? Ears that seem to be shaped more like a mammals than any reptilian configuration she could think of. That led her to think on her original assumption of being a dragon. She got up and started to walk towards the peak of the mountain. "I can't wait until I come across a body of water, I am very thirsty but I really want to see the reflection of my head. Though I am definitely something dragonish, that is the point though, the "ish." She had the characteristic bat like wings, but they where covered with feathers and in a coloration that reminded her of a barn owl. She also had the characteristic western dragon body type; long neck, long tail, the legs under her body not to the side like a reptile, and slightly armored pale golden scales running from under her throat, down her chest and underbelly, to the point of her tail where the long feathery fur tufted. That was the other anomaly; the fur. But then she thought of eastern dragons in carvings and paintings she had see. They had such things like the mane she had and the fur present on the unarmored parts of her skin. "Okay, so eastern/western dragon/bird." She was categorizing something she didn't really have any knowledge of but it was making her feel better by feeling more in control of things.

The summit was not too far away. She thought of the elves last night. "So if this is middle earth, or a place like it then I should assume that dragons are evil here." She could only recall the dragon Smaug from the Hobbit and desperately tried to remember where the lonely Mountain was. She was sure a meeting would not go well. What with him being tremendously large and able to breath fire and all. The thought flitted across her mind maybe she could breath fire as well, but she instintively knew that was not the case. Instinct...she wondered if dragons were territorial. Then something worse, Smaug was a male and she was probably the only female dragon around. She would have to avoid that area at all costs.

She suddenly remembered a conversation with a friend about middle earth. Her new auditory memory the obvious source. The lonely mountain was to the north eastern most of Middle Earth and past the Mirkwood forest, not before it. She was at least positive she would not see it at the summit.

She was getting frustrated at the what ifs she was coming up with and desperately wanted to know where things stood, so the not knowing could be replaced by planning. She was a very controlled person and had a constant tension to act on problems and solve them, and/or plan ahead, so that problems would not occur. That had always been a part of her character. But she also needed friendship and a single existence was not something she could bare for long.

She had since past the tree line and was slinking up at a moderate pace. When at last she reached the top she cautiously looked around. This mountain seemed to be the last in the width of the chain and she gazed upon a hilly and foresty land. To the horizon she could tell the land was less dense of forest. Perhaps established land? Well the elves had come from that direction so it was a good guess. A good guess was good enough for her and she made her way down the mountain in that direction.

The morning air was clean and it was a bright sunny day. She wanted to enjoy it and risked singing softly to herself a song she had heard on a dance radio station. It was lively, fun, and raised her spirits. It was also a good marching tune and helped her keep a good pace.


	4. Chapter 4

Fulcra: Chapter 4 Reflection

Author: Feyarcher

Rating: T for language

Summary:

Disclaimer: The world and realm of Middle Earth belongs to the Tolkien estate, not me.

Some time after she set her way down towards the hills, she came across a stream. The surface was bubbling across the many smooth rocks, creating a pleasant noise and sight of white foam and flashing light. Almost galloping to the water, she sighed with pleasure in between the great gulps of water. She did not realize how thirsty she had become. When finally her thirst was slacked, she laid down on the bank of soft sand and pebbles. She looked to her left and spotted a pool of water separated from the main water flow by a fallen tree. It created the perfect place for her to see her reflection. She almost did not want to get up, a ridiculous notion that it would become real entering her thoughts for a second before she severely admonished those foolish thoughts. "Seeing the rest of your body hasn't convinced you yet, you forsaken fool?"she muttered in anger. She could not argue with herself. She was forsaken somehow to this body and it was foolish to not gaze upon it.

She walked purposefully to the spot and without pause stretched her head above the water and looked down. The effect of seeing her present face and actually being able to pick out some of her previous attributes, brought her to tears. She could not exactly name the emotions she felt. Fear, hurt, sadness, denial, and then an acceptance for which she became angry at. She slashed at the water's surface with a powerful paw and keened lowly. A wave of despair came over her and she cried to the sky, " Will I always be separate and alone!" She turned again to her reflection and a sense of finality crept into her heart that seemed to only dissipate the denial.

"At least I don't look like a crocodile or have a bird's beak." she thought with a despondent air. Her face was smooth but had characteristic brow ridges with scales, but those seemed to be minimal and she could move them. Relief that she could make recognizable human-like expressions swept through her. She would have absolutely hated it if her face was cold and stony like a bird of prey. The ears she had wondered at were small and looked like a mixture of a cat's and horse's ears. She looked higher and atop her head lay two great horns that curved back gently then slightly forward at the tips Her eyes though larger had the same gray ring, green, then gold, and last brown of her previous eyes. A small feeling of thankfulness came to her. The eyes were the windows to the soul and they were still the same. Her head was surrounded by her thick creamy colored mane and her face tapered down to a lean but not pointy muzzle. She had the reptilian-like nostrils, but she had lips which she could manipulate to make expressions. With sadness in her heart, she showed her teeth to herself and saw what she knew strangers would only see. A killer, a demon, and if she was in Middle Earth: a servant of Melkor and Sauron.

She was emotionally exhausted and her depression seemed to swallow her up with thoughts of her previous life. She had finally decided to leave an emotionally abusive mother and the only family she had ever known, so she could try to fulfill something that was missing in her life. Something she knew, she could have found. But now a forced separateness was upon her. A barrier that paled to the former ones she had put up around herself in that existence. The very day she left that house, she came here. She wondered at this fate. What force was turning the wheels of her life into this nightmare and why.

"Why?"

The sunny day had lost all it's luster but she did not want to sit there. She wanted to move away from this place of reflection. She was tortured enough as it was and "wallowing" in her sorrows was pointless. "I could do that while walking" she thought sarcastically. She bunched her limbs under her body and leapt across the stream and continued her journey east ward.

After a few hours of walking in silence in this hilly forest, she became aware of the grumbling coming from her belly. She was hungry. "Oh man, I so was wishing I was solar powered or something." The thought of hunting was disgusting but she knew it would be mandatory to survival. She was sure this body was carnivorous. The size of her dragon body led her to wonder how much food she would require. She did know that reptiles gorged themselves on large meals ending long intervals where they would not eat for weeks sometimes months. "But they are cold blooded," she reminded herself. It was something that would have to wait to be seen. In the mean time she had to plan how she would capture, kill, slaughter, and eat some forest animal. "The best would be a deer. Oh, I am going to hate this." But the will to live this life no matter how miserable the circumstances, had not left her yet.


	5. Chapter 5

Fulcra: Chapter 5

Author: Feyarcher

Rating: Teen for language

Disclaimer: I am running out of ways to say I do not own the realm or characters in the story "Lord of the Rings" by JRR Tolkien and I am not making any money off of this.

"So what am I going to do? Try to stalk something?" She highly doubted she could achieve such a feat. It would have to be; hide and ambush. But how was she going to hide? She couldn't exactly hide behind a tree or bush! She stopped briefly and looked at her wings and spread them as far as the trees around would give her clearance. Even if she managed to learn how to fly that day, there was no way she could dive down onto something from above in this dense forest. She had passed a few glens today but they were isolated and flying above them for any amount of time would make her obvious to any animal.

"Let's not forget being spotted by the natives Sarah." she muttered to herself. She missed conversation. She knew talking to herself was something a psychiatrist would label with big, bright, red flags but she was beyond that kind of self restraint.

She should probably think of another name if she really was in Middle Earth and ever had the chance to introduce herself. This was because when she went to go see the movie, "The Return of the King" with her friends they had jokingly theorized she was a secret evil mastermind. For Tolkien seemed keen on naming some of his most evil characters with names starting with "Sa": Sauron and Saruman. 'Sarah' had an eerie similarity to them and although she had no problem with her name, she could see more problems than she was going to have, in a society that placed ones character with their name.

She wondered about Tolkien and then about multiple universes. All things pointed that she was in one. There was a theory that whenever a decision was to be made the universe would spit to every possible option to infinity. "I wonder if an authors thoughts could make a world too."she thought. "I shouldn't think about this because there is no way of finding out. Back to names...well, I guess I can say my name is Lauren." After one of her few friends, now gone from her.

As the trees she weaved between sailed by, she wondered how fast she was traveling. For a while she had picked up speed and she guessed she was going about twenty five miles and hour. Such a simple thing amazed her. She wasn't too worried about making too much noise as the forest floor did not have a lot of undergrowth and was wet and the fallen leaves and branches were rotting. The sound she made was just the dull thumping of her paws on the soft ground. She was actually making less noise than she had walking this morning in the higher and dryer parts of the forest.

The answer to her problem suddenly came to her. "Maybe I can lure a buck to me with a bugle call,"she thought. The full and mature foliage on the trees with cooler nights, had told her it was nearing the end of summer. The rutting season was close. She was pleased she had watched a hunting show with her long gone father so many years ago, as it provided her with the necessary auditory memory of such a call. So she decided to keep a sharp eye for a place to accomplish this, it would probably have to be atop and to one side of a hill. She would have to hope that anything approaching wouldn't come from behind her. She occupied her time thinking how she was going to kill something. It would have to be quick. She couldn't bare the thought of an animal suffering longer than it had to. She couldn't stomach the thought of biting it to kill it either. "That is repulsive! It will have to be a quick and hard blow to the head then."

As the ground became dryer again she came upon a good spot. She maneuvered her body into a position around the accompanying trees so they would not impede the lunge and capture of her prey. She would be able to bound a few leaps forward down the hill before she would have to weave through the trees again. She felt ridiculous making the low and high grunting noises of a deer but it was welcomed, as opposed to the feeling of almost resentment that she had to do this.

She tried to be patient, but after waiting for what felt like hours she wanted to try somewhere else. Then she heard something. No, she had not mistaken it. It was a mans shout, then others. Then a terrible wave of animalistic war cries erupted and the faint sounds of battle reached her ears. She had to know what was happening! She sprang up from her ambush bed and rushed towards the fight.

They were so close and she came upon the scene in only a few minutes. The moment she laid eyes on them, the feelings of where she was, plagued by uncertainty became absolute. She _was_ in Middle Earth. Those things that were battling the men could only be described as orcs and the things some of them were riding, wargs. She was horrified at the carnage. The men looked to be about two dozen strong but were having difficulty holding their own against a swarm of about fifty orcs and five wargs. The men had tried to group up and mostly succeeded but there was a few separated from the rest and they looked to be without a chance.

A wave of protectiveness came over her and she wanted to save them! She forced back her fear, and jumped into the meadow and gave a mighty roar. The most intimidating and menacing sound she could make, calling on all the dinosaur and monster movies she had seen,(and heard) for inspiration.

The battle stopped for a few seconds as everyone's attention turned to the sleek golden beast that had burst from the forest's edge. The orcs were just as surprised as the men when she turned and struck down the orcs that harried the separated men. The battle resumed instantly. The men she had just saved scrambled away from her and back to their comrades.

"You're welcome." she growled.

She turned her attention to the wargs charging her, their jaws wide displaying their nasty looking teeth, and their riders who raised their broadswords in defiance. "Shit! What do I do! What do I do!"

The first one to reach her ended up being grabbed by the neck and lifted off the ground. Its rider had been dumped to the ground and as it glared up, it witnessed its mount's neck being snapped before it was thrown onto him. The other four came all at once and she was dodging swords and teeth everywhere, managing to keep them at bay with her own claws, lashing tail, and she had resorted to baring her own fangs and snapping. She felt vulnerable with them circling her and some of the orcs from the band had split off and where heading towards her as well. "At least there are better odds for the men."

As one of the wargs snapped at her wings she instinctively mantled them over her body. "I need to get into the air!" Thinking quickly, she selected a few non musical and completely threatening noises and directed it at the two to her left and as they cringed back, she leapt into the air.

She flapped her wings furiously, but almost did not clear the wargs jaws and swords thrust upward to her arms and belly. As she took to the air she was struggling to remain aloft and over the trees but after a few second she realized she was like a tense child paddling in deep water with just their forearms. She stretched her wing span wider and tried to relax some of her muscles and move with the wing beats. It worked like a charm. Though still clumsy she could maneuver herself about and turned with a satisfied whoop back to the fray.


	6. Chapter 6

**Fulcra:** chapter 6

**Author**: Feyarcher

**Rating**: T for language

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters and realm of JRR Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" and I am not making any money. The musical piece "Lux Aeterna," is from the album State of Grace III produced by Paul Schwartz.

Sarah circled once to get an idea of what was happening. The men were holding steady and defeating many of the orcs, but the wargs had started to turn back to the men. She decided they were the most dangerous and needed to be taken out first. From her now great height she selected a warg in the back of the pack. Her heart drooped with fear as she let herself descend quickly. With forearms thrust forward and talons splayed she aimed. But a little complication came up. She was going too quickly and needed to put on the breaks if she wanted to take out the warg and rider. What happened next was not what she planned. Instead of slashing at them she ended up landing on them and the force pushed their bodies into the ground as they skidded a good ways under her weight. There was a sudden pain that flashed down her right arm. The orc's weapon had slashed the unprotected underarm quite deeply before it was killed.

Jumping off of them in revulsion, she jumped up into the sky again avoiding the scimitars of a few orcs. Knowing her injury wasn't too serious she tried to ignore the pain and continued with the fight. Targeting the next warg was easy and she dispatched the rider on the first dive. But the warg had a little sense in it, and weaved back and forth escaping her bone shattering swipes. Frustrated she started growling but then she thought of something. She barraged it with such an array of confusing pulses of fast drum sounds, screeching electric guitar, then creatively a lightning bolt crash. She marveled at the decibel level she was reaching. The warg seemed overcome with terror and confusion. It was a lot easier to overtake it from above and kill it with a piercing grip to the back of the head. After that she employed the same technique to the remaining two wargs.

With the wargs slain, she turned to the main battle and concentrated on killing as many orcs as she could. It was actually quite difficult as they kept fleeing before her and her menacing songs, even they could not comprehend. She mentally thanked her cousin, who liked to listen to heavy metal no matter if family was visiting and if they liked it or not. Though it had seemed like an eternity the battle had been turned and won quickly after that.

As she panted from the exertion she watched the men. In turn their attention was just as focused on her. They were still battle ready tense, waiting for her to charge them. She couldn't help being angered at this, but it was something she had expected. A tall man with long shaggy brown hair and steel gray eyes, approached her a few steps. They were Rangers she suddenly realized. "Now I just need to find out what time I have come to," she thought. He looked straight into her eyes and she could see the confusion and fear for his men. He addressed her in a deep and commanding voice.

"Shit! This is not something I expected!" she thought with dismay. He had addressed her in a language she could not understand. "Probably Westron. Oh, crap!" He repeated his demand or question again with more force and the men behind him seemed to ready themselves to attack.

"Please don't!" she cried. " I am not going to hurt you," she said more gently and trying to illustrate her motives lay down before them and folded her wings. She could not escape anyway as some of the men pointed their notched arrows at her."I cannot understand your language Dunedain." She wondered what they were thinking. They understood that title and obviously gathered she was female from her voice. The leader made a series of signals to the men. They seemed to object but did not do anything. He had not taken his eyes off her face and said something again in what was apparently another language. Though she did not know the meaning she knew it was elvish. She desperately wanted to be perceived as friendly after the performance she just gave and decided the best way to do that was to sing. Sing something that could only be construed as good. Deciding on the instrumental piece, "Lux Aeterna," the string instruments giving an almost mournful air. Trying not to be perceived as an enchanter, she turned her head away from the men and sang. From the corner of her eye, she watched. He seemed intrigued so she continued until the end. She decided she would let him make the next move and gazed at him with a look of sadness. He seemed to come to some sort of decision then slowly walked forward. His men cried in alarm which earned a sharp gesture of silence.

At that exact moment a moan and sound of surprise came from next to her side. One of the rangers who had fallen was alive and upon returning to consciousness was greeted by her Dragon body. Distressed she was causing the injured man fear she mumbled soothingly to him and reached out. Ignoring the men she picked him up and cradled him in her good arm. With a little self interest she thought this would be a good opportunity to show them again she was good. The mans eyes were wide with pain and fear and she hobbled to the leader. She was pleased he stood his ground as she approached and lay the man before him. "There you go." she said quietly and backed away again.

He tore his eyes from her and shared a look with the injured man. The leader called out to the men and seemed to tell some to attend to the few injured. Though about ten archers still had their bows at ready. She felt she had past the point of immediate danger.

The man again approached her and stopped a few meters away. He pointed to his chest and said, "Halbarad." Her thoughts raced. It was extremely unlikely this man was anyone other than Aragorn's cousin. Noticing that he seemed to be waiting she gestured to herself and said, "Lauren," keeping to her plan. "Lauren," he repeated, then gave a little chuckle, "Laurelin!" She didn't know what was funny but didn't care as long as this meeting ended well.

She was starting to feel funny. A lightheadedness and weakness was starting to make itself known. She must have telegraphed this to him somehow and he closed the remaining feet between them. He squatted down and gestured to her injury. Then he slowly reached out and touched her shoulder. Trying to be as agreeable and none threatening as possible she nodded her head slowly then turned her face away from him and stretched her arm towards him more. She did not see the look of disbelief cross Halbarad's face, but she saw some of the men's.

Her breathing was getting rapid she realized with fear. "That blade must have been poisoned!" she spoke quietly. "Halbarad, the yrch, ..." she could not find a way to tell him. A crashing wave of exhaustion beat upon her conscienceness and she had just enough sense to lean away from Halbarad before her world faded out.


	7. Chapter 7

Fulcra: Chapter 7

Author: Feyarcher

Rating: T for language

Disclaimer: The author of this story does not own "The Lord of the Rings" by JRR Tolkien and is not making any money.

A/N: I would like to thank all of the reviewers and hope you will continue to read and review!

Sarah woke slowly to the sounds of men's voices and the crackling of a fire. As she lay there and cracked her eyes open she remembered what had happened and was a little surprised they didn't kill her, or at least leave her. She shifted slightly and wonder of wonders, noticed her wound had been packed and bound and her battle dirty paws had been cleaned. Her heart filled with great relief. She could at least _be_ _with people _and they seemed to care enough about her to treat her wounds and wash her _paws_.

It was night and the stars were glorious above her. Any astronomer would have a heart attack at the clarity the heavens could be seen above. The field around was free of orc bodies and she wondered what happened to them, then noticed a smoking heap some ways away downwind. No one had noticed she was awake yet and she took the chance to study them. They were gathered around a few fires eating rations and passing some sort of liquor to each other. Most were having quiet conversations but a few were silent and seemed to be sulking for lack of a better word.

She had a good idea what they were sulking about. "It's probably me. I bet I have caused all sorts of problems being here," she thought. "Do I really want to get involved any more than I already have?" but her heart answered before she could go any further. Somehow she felt she should help this world in the oncoming war. She had many things to plan. She could not afford for the eventual outcome to be changed in some way by her presence. Thoughts of getting herself killed as an insurance flitted across her mind before she pushed them away.

Her morbid thoughts were interrupted when Halbarad, sitting a few feet away turned as if to check on her and noticed she was awake. He put his hands up in a placating way and spoke softly as if to a frightened horse. Some of the men jumped up and laid their hands on their weapons. She couldn't help but to roll her eyes. Lifting her head off the ground she madly suppressed a yawn that crept up on her, probably giving her a demented expression. She hurried to address Halbarad.

"Thank you Halbarad for your kind treatment for my injury." and bowed her head.

She knew he only understood one word but a flicker of recognition and acceptance crossed his face before he bowed his head in return. Her long ignored stomach decided to make its presence known again and it gurgled loudly. Embarrassed she turned away, and Halbarad walked away from her. "I am not going to eat anyone, Jeez," she said to herself. But Halbarad came back from one of the fires hauling one deer leg that seemed to be put aside for her. He knew she was eying the meat and seemed to be nervous to outright give it to her, like she might be a vicious dog that would bite the hand that fed her. She smiled at him without showing teeth, encouraging him with a little bob of her head.

Once he finally got close enough he dropped it on the ground and backed up quickly. To grateful to be offended she restrained herself from just ripping into it and grabbed it in both front paws. Noticing the watching Rangers and embarrassed she had to eat like an animal, she shielded her body with her wings from prying eyes. It was cooked but extremely rare. She felt like a bird of prey, ripping the flesh off with her front teeth. But she was not going to chew on the bone. Even if she could eat the bone the thought rankled her. She enjoyed it but it was gone before she felt satisfied. As if expecting this Halbarad was back with the other hind leg of the deer. She could not refuse and this time Halbarad actually handed it to her. She smiled and ducked under her wings to finish her meal.

When she pushed the bones away her stomach was pleasantly full. But her injury started to burn and the ache that she felt only slightly was becoming deeper. She became worried. She thought by surviving she was in the clear but what if she wasn't? "What if the poison isn't just immediate but slow acting too? Do they have a cure for it?" she wondered with growing unease.

She placed her paw on the bandage as if she could press the pain away and couldn't help a slight hiss from escaping her muzzle. She laid her head back down and closed her eyes hoping to pass out again. She felt a hand on her wing. Halbarad was being especially nice in her opinion, caring for a monster the way he was. She moved the wing aside and let him change the bandage.

"Halbarad, I'm not gonna lie! That really hurts!" she said in a whinny almost childlike voice. "That earned a little grin." she congratulated herself. He poked around her wound and seeming unsatisfied called to someone nearby. A few minutes later he came up with a small kettle of steaming water. Halbarad motioned to her that he was going to pour the water over the wound. She nodded to him in agreement and braced herself for the pain. The young man seemed incredulous that he was chosen for this task but poured the water over the wound anyway.

Her claws dug into the ground and she grimaced to the sky. A low groan very human like coming from her throat. The men were watching her again and through the haze of pain, noticed some actually seemed concerned. Halbarad wiped away the paste that he had previously put on examining the wound closely. He seemed to begin to trust Sarah. " What a time to trust me man!" she thought, " I so want to punch you right now!" She couldn't punch him though. Not with her paws anyway. "Be nice and don't entertain those thoughts Sarah!" she shouted in her mind. Another bowl of that greenish paste was brought by one of the men she saved from the wargs. He handed it to Halbarad's waiting hands and stood next to her, daring to pat a wing reassuringly. She smiled and knew she wasn't alone.


	8. Chapter 8

Fulcra: Chapter 8

Author: Feyarcher

Rating: T for language

Disclaimer: I do not own the realm or characters in the "Lord of the Rings" by JRR Tolkien and I am not making any money off of this.

A/N- Sorry I haven't updated in a couple weeks. It's been very busy here at home because a relative has just moved in and I haven't had to much time to write. Thanks for the reviews! What are the rules for song lyrics?

When they were done dressing her wound all she wanted to do was sleep, but she wanted to thank them. She was extremely frustrated she could not speak to them. Resting her head on her good arm she did what was becoming her main way of communication. She sang. Choosing one of Enya's songs, "How Can I Keep From Singing," from her album _Shepherd Moons._

_My life goes on in endless song_

_above earth's lamentations,_

_I hear the real, though far-off hymn_

_that hails a new creation._

_Through all the tumult and the strife _

_I hear it's music ringing_

_It sounds an echo in my soul._

_How can I keep from singing?_

_When tryrants tremble in their fear_

_and hear their death knell ringing,_

_when friends rejoice both far and near_

_how can I keep from singing?_

_In prison cell and dungeon vile_

_our thoughtsto them are winging,_

_when friends by shame are undefiled_

_how can I keep from singing?_

When the end of the song was done she succeded in making herself tired and fell easily into a healing sleep. But not before she absorbed the looks of appreciation from the others.

She woke to the sounds of the men breaking camp. They were getting ready to leave. Some already had! She should have remembered that in times when Rangers where few and far between, they had to spread their resources. They must have heard of the orcs and gathered to fight them, but where surprised by them somehow. "I need to know what year I am in. I wonder if I have already shown myself to Aragorn already? Wait, Gandalf should be here at least! I need to find him! He is one of the most powerful and wisest of the Maiar and if anyone could help me with my predicament it is him,"she thought.

She knew he radiated around the Shire in the years before the fellowship. She needed to go there. The same reason she knew about Middle Earth,she knew certain dates when things where set into motion. When she was still in High School one of her love interests was obsessed with Tolkien's works so she studied as much as she could just so she could talk to him. It was really pathetic, she knew looking back, but she couldn't be more thankful for it now.

How was she going to find out the year though? That was very important to her plans. She looked to Halbarad walking to her. Maybe she could stay with these Rangers and learn their language. " How am I going to get them to let me stay?" She stood up and found she couldn't put weight on her injured limb for long. Looking down at Halbarad she had to reevaluate how large she was. She thought she previously judged her size well, but maybe the trees that she used as reference where a little larger and older than the ones she was used to back home. "Come to think of it the only old growth forests left anywhere near my old home were in the mountains and I never visited them." He was a good sized man, most likely about 6 ft. tall and she seemed to be almost that height at her shoulder or "withers" a friend that owned a horse would say. She still felt she was smaller than a dragon of myth and legend. "Oh, maybe it is because when I walk in this ridiculous body, my head leans forward more than up. Well that's not very graceful!" she decided she would try to curve her neck to make her posture look a little more regal and less hulking vulture, when walking.

She could read the indecision on the mens' faces. Of course they would be apprehensive, she was an unknown, and they didn't know where she came from. "Hell, I don't know how I got here!" But she needed to think of something to tell them. An idea came to her and she addressed Halbarad.

"Halbarad," then she motioned to herself, "Lauren" Then she made a motion from the west and said,"Valar" then gestured to the camp and pointed to herself. She thought if anyone was responsible for her being here it had to be their gods. "Your in their world now Sarah, they may not be your gods but your going to have to respect them and try to keep an open mind. " she reminded herself. "Maiar Gandalf!" she said. At that, the morning clouds seemed to part and the cheery rays of the sun glared down on her. She tried not to squint, pretending that was what she intended and tried to look as regal as possible. Maybe this explanation was more truthful than made up! Perhaps they did send her here. The thought of finding Gandalf had an almost premonition like feeling to it. A feeling that to find him was the right thing to do. No matter how analytical she was, she always trusted her instincts.

He seemed to look at her in confusion then spoke to her again. "Oh yeah Sarah, if you are from the Valar how come you can't speak elvish hmmm? Crap. What do I say?" she thought floundering for something. She decided to shrug and made her answer, "Gandalf."

Halbarad nodded slowly then turned to address some of his men. " I wonder what he's going to do. Please let him take me to Gandalf."

As she watched the men finish up their tasks she scratched a stick figure into the dirt and tried to remember everything she could of the books. All the things that happened with Frodo going to Imladris happened in the fall of 3018.

He frowned and shook his head and shrugged. He didn't seem to know where he was. "That's Great! Absolutely friggin' wonderful!" she grumbled to herself. "Well, I am not going to let them leave without me." She sat up again and limped to the piles of supplies the men seemed to be preparing themselves to carry. It dawned on her that they didn't have horses, which was very odd. She didn't know what happed before the battle but most must have been on foot and their few horses were probably killed somehow.

They all moved away from her approaching form. Some grabbing what they deemed important parcels before she could reach them. She gave them what she felt was an appropriate "look" and started gathering the bundles together. "Well if I am going become involved in this world, taking the place of an animal doesn't bother me as much as it should. Probably because I am not taking the place of a person." she thought.

Painfully she placed the items on her back, cradled between her wings. They weren't too heavy and she could carry them easily. The only thing she was worried about was the fact she was limping and some of the items might fall off. She spotted some rope _suddenly_ unattended and grabbed it with her teeth. With a flip of her head she tossed it to Halbarad and pointed to the bundles on her back and motioned him to tie it down.

He stood there with a calculating look on his face. Quickly coming to a decision he nodded and came over. She lowered her back a little so he could move things around and strap them down. After getting more rope he was finished. She looked down to see what he did and found she was wearing a sort of harness that neatly went around her wings and didn't restrict movement. Smiling she walked to the edge of the camp and waited for them to finish up.

She turned and stared at the pile of orcs that where now mostly ash. Unrecognizable from the ugly,evil creatures that existed only to destroy, of before. She knew only too well what other monsters the dark lord had to do his bidding and prayed for strength if her path took her to them. "Correction, when I do meet them. There really is no other way for me. I am a part of this world now."


End file.
